It's taken them about a week, but the corporate media is finally getting up to speed on the ACORN non-story. CNN had some reporting on it yesterday, apparently, and this piece today from the AP sets out the parameters pretty well, including debunking the notion that what ACORN has been charged with reaches the level of vote fraud.

By legal definition, to commit voter fraud means a person would have to present some kind of documentation at the polls — a driver's license, a phone bill or another form of ID — that bears the name of Mickey Mouse, for example. To do so risks a fine and imprisonment under state laws.

Submitting fake registration cards is another matter. Local law enforcement agencies in about a dozen states are investigating fake registrations submitted by ACORN workers. Late last week, The Associated Press reported the FBI will be reviewing those cases.

That sums it up pretty neatly. They also mention that "Many states require that all registrations be submitted to local voting officials so that election directors are in charge of vetting problem ballots, not the groups collecting them," which is further evidence that what ACORN was doing adhered to the letter of the law, as opposed to breaking it.

This has become the modus operandi of the Republican party since the early 1990's. Whatever you're guilty of, point and scream at the opposition and accuse them. It happened with extra-marital affairs, it happened with accusations about not wanting full recounts in Florida 2000, and it's happening now. Republicans are engaging and have engaged in voter registration fraud, so they're attacking ACORN. At least for now, it seems the corporate media is pointing out the facts of the case.